Meat at the Movies: So Many Monkeys to Choose From

There are a handful of movies to choose from this weekend with a range in genres. Comedy - Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2, Drama - True Story, Child 44, Documentary - Disney Nature's Monkey Kingdom and the Horror - Unfriended. With four movies being released one is bound to claim top spot in the box office.

Taking a quick look at each movie we'll start with the Kevin James comedy sequel, Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2. Show a 0% on Rotten Tomatoes the day before release it's not looking promising. In this sequel Paul Blart take a vacation in Vegas before his daughter is to go to college, but he finds that no mall is safe and his services are in need even on vacation. Critics clam that this movie has no effort put into it by the actors. The best thing anyone could say is that it's not the worse Kevin James movie; that's a shame, I liked the first Paul Blart movie.

Next, a duo that is usually in a comedy, Jonah Jill and James Franco star in True Story. A movie based around a, get this, true story, critics are split on this drama. Rotten Tomatoes give this a 53% with some loving and some hating Hill's and Franco's performances but most saying that the facts of the true story are what keep True Story interesting and captivating. After New York Times reporter Michael Finkel (Hill) meets accused killer Christian Longo (Franco) who has taken on Finkel's identity a series of investigations takes place where Finkel tries to find Longo's true story. This one is still in limited release but can be seen locally in Poughkeepsie.

Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman, Noomi Rapace star in Child 44 - sounds good to me even if Rotten Tomatoes only rates it a 31%. Following a story in 1950's Soviet Russia where a secret police agent (Hardy) looses power and home when he refuses to call his wife (Rapace) a traitor. After being exiled from Moscow they join with a General (Oldman) to help track down a serial killer who targets young boys. Critics are as surprised as I am when giving this such a low rating with such a good cast. Many complains are that it stretches on far too long, too long to get any thrills out of this supposed mystery and suspense movie, it's over two and a half hours long.

Lastly, a movie about monkeys...not Boris and Robyn, but actual blonde-bobbed monkeys narrated by Tina Fey. Monkey Kingdom follows a mother, Maya, who is raising her son, Kip, in the wild. Each money has their own personality and they have to get through the hardships of living in the wild including a group of neighboring monkeys taking over. Rotten Tomatoes gives this an outstanding 100%! Critics say this is a wonderful educational movie for all ages and really gets you carting about the wild and the life of these monkeys.

As always, check out the trailers below and until next week, we'll MEAT at the movies!